Chapter 197: Her Selfishness
Arriving at the entrance of the York family villa, Chloe reached out and rang the doorbell. She had originally intended to use the fingerprint scanner, but upon discovering it wouldn’t open the gate, she realized her prints had been deleted.
Hearing the chime, a servant in the courtyard looked toward the gate and spotted her. They all knew Chloe. The moment they saw her, they immediately hurried over to greet her. "Miss, you’re back."
The servant opened the villa’s main gate to let her in.
"Thank you," Chloe said politely. She didn’t move to enter, quickly shifting the topic. "But I think you should go inside and announce me first. I’m just a guest now."
The smile on the servant’s face faltered. "Miss, you..."
Mr. York had explicitly stated that Chloe was still the York family’s daughter and a miss of the household. The servant couldn’t understand why she would say such a thing. Besides, Chloe had lived there for over a decade. As veteran employees of the villa, they had called her "Miss" for all those years. Chloe had always treated the staff well, so they genuinely liked her. In contrast, they weren’t very fond of Brooke; she always gave off a cold, fake vibe.
"It’s fine. Go in and ask," Chloe said with a smile. "If I just walk in unannounced, they might blame you for it."
"Alright, Miss. I’ll go ask. Please come sit under the parasol to get out of the sun." The servant gestured for Chloe to step inside and take a seat in one of the sun loungers off to the side.
The spot was close to the entrance. If she wasn’t allowed in, she could be easily escorted out; if she was, it was a perfectly convenient waiting spot.
"Okay, thank you!"
Chloe didn’t refuse. She stepped into the courtyard and sat down on the lounger. The sun was still quite punishing this time of year, and she didn’t want to stand out in the heat while waiting.
"Sir, Madam, the young miss has returned," the servant reported directly upon entering the house.
"Why don’t I see Brooke?" Alice Cole asked in confusion. Hearing the servant say the "miss" was back, she looked around but didn’t see Brooke anywhere.
The servant avoided Alice’s gaze, hesitating for a moment before replying, "It’s... Miss Chloe!"
At the mention of Chloe’s name, Alice’s expression soured. "What is she doing here? And remember, from now on, Brooke is the only miss in this house. Don’t go calling any random nobody from the streets a miss of the York family, understood?"
"Understood!"
"Don’t listen to her. Chloe is also a daughter of the York family. Now, hurry up and invite her in." Miles York blatantly contradicted Alice’s orders, publicly humiliating her right in front of the servant.
"Yes, sir!" The servant turned and jogged back outside to escort Chloe in.
"What did I just tell you?" Miles scolded. "She’s finally come to us on her own accord, and you’re still acting like this? I’m telling you, when she walks through those doors, you’d better behave normally."
Miles had originally intended to go out and welcome Chloe himself. The only reason he hadn’t was that he needed to stay behind to warn Alice.
"You expect me to just act ’normal’ on your command? What, can’t you take the company to the next level on your own? Do you really have to rely on Chloe?"
"You make it sound so easy," he retorted. "If it were really that simple—if a company could just level up whenever it wanted to—then everyone would be a billionaire! Anyone with a business would be considered elite, and we’d already be at the same status as the Prescott family!"
Miles’s harsh words left Alice utterly speechless, unable to muster a single rebuttal.
Right at that moment, Chloe walked into the house.
"Oh, Chloe, you’re back!" Upon seeing her, Miles immediately plastered on a warm, enthusiastic smile. The sheer level of his enthusiasm didn’t resemble a father welcoming his daughter; rather, it looked more like a subordinate respectfully greeting their boss.
Alice cast a sideways glance at Chloe and remained seated, refusing to move even when Miles glared at her.
Great, she was being foolish again. All his previous warnings had fallen on deaf ears, Miles realized. Too lazy to deal with her, he turned his attention back to greeting Chloe.
"Chloe, come sit down. You must be tired from the trip over. Look at you—you didn’t even call Dad! I could have sent someone to pick you up from school. Here, I’ll have someone prepare your favorite fruits." Saying this, he shot a look at Alice. "Well? Aren’t you going to have someone prep the fruit?"
Alice glared at him and reluctantly stood up. She could have easily just called for a servant, but since she didn’t want to look at Chloe, she decided to head to the kitchen herself. However, once she reached the kitchen and gave the orders, she didn’t go back to the living room. Instead, she hid nearby to eavesdrop. While she loathed the sight of Chloe, she was deeply curious about why she had suddenly shown up at their door.
"Ah, Chloe, you taking the initiative to come back and visit us... it truly brings so much comfort to my heart," Miles said.
"I’m not here to visit you. I’m here on business," Chloe replied, not giving him an ounce of face.
Miles hadn’t expected her to be so blunt, and he looked visibly awkward.
Listening from her hiding spot, Alice couldn’t help but chuckle. For some reason, she thoroughly enjoyed watching Chloe put Miles in his place. Ideally, she’d love to see both of them knocked down a peg.
"Well then, Chloe, is there something you need my help with? Just name it, and Dad will definitely help you."
"I want you to issue a public statement formally severing our ties starting today. I, Chloe York, will no longer have any association with the York family. Also, I want my household registration transferred off your family’s registry."
She wanted to transfer her registration back to the original owner’s biological parents. This way, she could finally be considered as returning to her roots.
"Now, Chloe, there’s no need for that. No matter what, we’re still family! I watched you grow up from a little girl, and you’ve called me ’Dad’ for over a decade. We practically are biological father and daughter! Look at you, why are you saying such things again?"
Hearing that Chloe wanted to issue another statement, Miles felt a wave of displeasure. Right now, she was an absolute gold mine—there was no way he was going to just let her go.
Conversely, when Alice heard this, she was overwhelmed with uncontrollable joy. She was thrilled that Chloe possessed such self-awareness. Since she wasn’t a true member of the York family, why should she remain on their registry? Transferring out was the best possible outcome.
Suddenly, the sight of Chloe didn’t bother her anymore. Alice marched straight back into the living room, sat down next to Miles, and beamed. "Oh, Chloe, I was just thinking the same thing! At the end of the day, you aren’t actually part of our York family. You should go back to where you truly belong, and it’s only right that your household registration is transferred back."
"Shut up! Did I give you permission to speak?" Miles roared at Alice.
He was desperately trying to come up with a way to make Chloe drop the idea. If her registration was actually transferred, she would truly have no ties left to them.
"Why can’t I speak? Am I wrong? Isn’t that exactly what Chloe wants too? What? Are you going to hoard someone else’s daughter and refuse to let her registration go back where it belongs?" Alice fired back, sentence after sentence.
"I think Mrs. York is absolutely right. My household registration naturally belongs with my biological parents, not on the same registry as people I share zero blood ties with. So, Mr. York, be a little cooperative, won’t you?"
Chloe enthusiastically agreed with Alice. Even though the older woman had her own selfish motives, at the very least, their goals were perfectly aligned.